Net beefs up toon slate with 'Napoleon,' 'Gregory'

Fox has greenlit an animated series rendition of the 2004 comedy that starred Jon Heder as a geeky teenager struggling to navigate high school politics in rural Idaho. Fox Entertainment chairman Peter Rice championed the quirky live-action feature in his previous gig as prexy of Fox Searchlight.

Now Rice is a position to give new life to “Napoleon” as a toon that reunites helmer-writer Jared Hess and co-writer Jerusha Hess as writers and exec producers of the TV rendition. “The Simpsons” alum Mike Scully is also on board as a writer/exec producer.

Heder and his co-stars in the original pic will voice the key characters. Fox has ordered six episodes of “Dynamite” from for 20th Century Fox TV.

Fox has also given a seven-episode order to another toon, “Allen Gregory,” which hails from 20th and Chernin Entertainment. Laffer revolves around the titular character, described as a famous 7-year-old who faces the greatest challenge of his life when he has to attend elementary school with regular kids.

Skein is written by Jonah Hill, Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, who exec produce along with Chernin Entertainment’s Peter Chernin and Katherine Pope.

Both series are targeted for debut in the 2011-12 season. Fox has one animated entry on tap this season for a midseason debut, “Bob’s Burgers.”